(Source: MIRS.news, Published 01/23/2025) As the story about the nine bills from last session sitting in the House clerk's office continues, MIRS learned Thursday of a similar situation from 15 years ago that may be relevant to the conversation today. 

In 2009, in the midst of the Great Recession, then-Sen. John Gleason pushed forward a bill to help local governments looking to work together to build athletic fields, dig a pool, make a park, etc. The idea was that by creating these recreational authorities, local governments could work together to provide services to a larger community at a lower cost for everyone involved. 

The bill, SB 222, passed the Senate unanimously and then went to the House, where it passed, 65-42, amid concerns among conservative Republicans and Democrats about the possibility of creating a new taxing governmental unit. It was not granted immediate effect in the House. 

Once it got back to the Senate, the bill sat. Unlike the bills in the current controversy, they didn't see a vote for immediate effect and weren't enrolled. But like the bills in the current situation, it sat until session ended and never moved to the Governor despite having passed both chambers. 

“It was a damn good bill,” said Gleason, who fingered then-Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop with sitting on the bill because he was “pissed” with him over something. 

For his part, Bishop said he can't remember ever being angry with the affable Gleason over anything. Gleason was a conservative Democrat who joined Republicans on some votes. Bishop couldn't remember what, in particular, may have happened with SB 222. However, he said that legal or technical issues did arise with certain bills that prevented them from moving forward with an immediate effect vote or enrollment. 

While the details of the 2009 bill are different, it's similar in the fact that the chamber of origin always controls a bill after it has passed both chambers until it's given to the Governor for signature, he said. 

On the current issue with the nine bills sitting in the Clerk's office, Bishop, an attorney by trade, said he doesn't see any legal reason why House Speaker Matt Hall (R-Richland Township) is obliged to send the legislation from last session to the Governor. 

“Shame on the House Democrats for not making sure it got where it needed to be or the Governor for not retrieving it,” he said.